AUTOPSY: TOXIC DRUG MIX KILLED TEEN

Douglas Rozelle III had a lethal cocktail of drugs in his system that slowly shut down his breathing the night he died in a West Palm Beach attorney's apartment, according to a pathologist and toxicologist who testified Tuesday during a federal sentencing hearing.

Damon Amedeo, 30, a former public defender who worked in the law office of Rozelle's father and was entrusted with seeing the 18-year-old through a court-ordered drug-treatment program, faces 12 to 18 months in prison. He pleaded guilty in October to delivering cocaine to Rozelle several months before his death, in an incident he videotaped in his apartment

Rozelle was found dead in the attorney's apartment on Jan. 6, 2002, but which drugs led to his death weren't made public until Tuesday. Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to increase Amedeo's possible prison time in a hearing scheduled to conclude today.

The painkiller methadone, cocaine byproducts, the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam and the anti-depressant citalopram were in Rozelle's system, testified Christopher Wilson, an associate Palm Beach County medical examiner who performed the autopsy. He said Rozelle died of multiple-drug toxicity.

"He slowed down and died, basically," he said.

Toxicology tests also showed he had marijuana in his system, but that played no role in his death, testified Jesse Bidanset, a forensic toxicologist.

The teen had a very high concentration of citalopram, a drug he was being prescribed, in his system, Bidanset said. It would have been equal to about 20 doses of his prescription, he said.

Wilson and Bidanset agreed that methadone, used to treat heroin addicts and people with chronic pain, can be deadly to those inexperienced with it because even a small dose can be fatal for some people.

Amedeo went out for smoothies with friends the next morning before cleaning his apartment, checking on Rozelle and calling authorities, according to witnesses and court documents.

Peter Franceschina can be reached at pfranceschina@sun-sentinel.com or 561-832-2894.